Reeler for rod or wire



Oct. 15, 1968 E. SCHRODER ETAL 3,405,885

REELER FOR ROD OR WIRE Filed Feb. l5, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet l y, I 1 2 O 4\! I I g i s 5*' Il 6,

i s I o u i v *i Fig? I Fig.7 6 7 Fig. 5

Oct 15, 1968 E. SCHRODER ETAL 3,405,885

HEELER FOR ROD OR WIRE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Feb. 13, 1967 United States Patent O ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A rod or wire reeler with a horizontal axis laying arm and a device for tilting over the vertical rod or wire loops so formed so that they eventually lie horizontally on a moving conveyor or in a collector.

This invention relates to a reeler for supplying loops of rod or wire (hereinafter called strand material or rod) to a conveyor so that the loops can be conveyed by the conveyor in an open form overlappingly spaced or (hereinafter called open form) by conveying the loops in an open form, the strand materal can be uniformly treated, for instance cooled, whilst on the conveyor, and can be led to a collector. With more recent rod reeling plants, in order to improve cooling conditions, the rod is laid or fanned out by the laying arm of the reeler in non-concentric loops on a coveyor and in them conveyed to a collector, so that the single rod loops fall into the collector at the end of the conveyor.

With the conventional construction of rotary laying pipe reeler, hot rod coming from the last roll stand passes through a water cooling line and is then led round a curve in such a manner that it passes down into a hollow shaft rotating about a vertical axis, and from this is formed into a loop. The exit portion of the hollow shaft is constructed as laying arm which is so angled and curved in three dimensions that the exit opening moves around an orbit corresponding to the average rod loop diameter, and the wire exits tangentially to this orbit, so that the circumferential speed of the exit opening is approximately the same as the speed of the rod.

All of these conventional constructions have the disadvantage that the rod must overcome a high frictional resistance in being guided through a 90 turn and in passing through the angled, curved laying arm; this frictional resistance causes a backwards force on the rod and often leads to trouble after the last roll stand. For this reason, it is not usually possible to cool the rod below 700 C., in the cooling line before the reeler, because the resistance to deformation of the rod, and hence also the frictional resistance in the laying pipe, increases with falling rod temperature. Attempts to avoid these difficulties by eX- pensive chain drives or centrifugal force drives, provided instead of the 90 bend above the rotary laying pipe reeler, has not in general given the desired result.

As experience with plants at present in operation has shown, further difficulties are given when collecting the loops of wire in the collector at the end of the conveyor, in that certain loops do not fall down perpendicularly but stand upright in the collector. The cause of this situation is that certain loops can be so displaced in the direction of travel of the conveyor, as a result of their random dispersion on the conveyor, that they arrive sooner at the end of the conveyor than loops lying under them, and thus tip downwards loops which are not yet free.

For simplifying the removal of rod bundles or packs, it is known to mount a rotary laying pipe reeler, with a laying -pipe rotating about a horizontal axis, in front of a conveyor belt on which are provided a number of curved take-up horns With their points facing the laying pipe. In this manner, the rod loops, `formed in a vertical position, are turned into the horizontal position and are gathered together into a bundle. However, with this plant, it is not possible to carry out heat treatment of he rod in the rolling heat, because the separate loops or windings in the rod ring are subjected to different cooling conditions and the rod has a non-uniform structure along its length.

According to the present invention, there is provided a combination of a reeler for reeling strand material and a continuously operative means for conveying loops of said material away from the reeler, the reeler having a drivable rotary lying member mounted for rotation about a generally horizontal axis for providing generally vertical loops of said material driving means for said rotary laying member, the combination further comprising means for tilting the loops over in a forward direction, whereby the loops are disposed in an overlappingly spaced or open formation on said conveying means.

In connection with improvement of the rod structure and of the scale, for economically working the rod in the draw mill, it is possible according to the invention to reel the rod without trouble at a temperature below 700 C. and subsequently to dispose the rod in open loops (for instance in an open, dispersed oliset pattern) on a conveyor and to cool the rod in still air on forced air draught, in order to try and obtain a good scale and a uniform rod structure which is as close as possible to the structure which can be obtained by lead bath patenting. At the same time, the deposition of the rod loops on a conveyor can be improved in order to avoid trouble in the collector.

The invention will be further described, by way of eX- ample, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE l is a view, mainly in vertical section, through a reeler and part of a conveyor in accordance with the inventions;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical section along the line II-II of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a view, mainly in vertical section, through a second reeler and part of a conveyor in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 4 is a view, mainly in vertical section, through a third reeler and part of a conveyor, in accordance with the invention;

FIGURE 5 is a vertical section along the line V-V of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a view, partly in vertical section, of a `fourth reeler and conveyor in accordance with the invention, also showing a collector;

FIGURE 7 is a view partly in vertical section of a fifth reeler and conveyor in accordance with the invention, also showing part of a collector; and

FIGURE 8 is a section along the line VIII-VIII of FIGURE 7.

In the embodiment of FIGURES 1 and 2, the hot rod leaves the last roll stand (not shown), runs through a water cooling line (not shown) and enters a rotary laying pipe reeler 1, whose laying arm (or pipe) 2 rotates about its horizontal axis and projects into a protective casing 3; the side walls 4 and 5 of the casing 3 act as side guides for the rod loops. A conveyor belt 6 is mounted so as to be tangential to the lower arcs of the rod loops formed by the laying arm 2 so that the lower part of each loop engages the conveyor almost immediately after leaving the laying arm 2, the conveyor belt 6 being provided with transverse ribs 7 and travelling at a slower speed than the horizontal speed of the vertical rod loops. In the upper part of the protective casing 3, a driving roller 8 is so mounted in relation to the laying arm 2 that the lower part of its periphery is tangential to the upper arcs of the upper portions of the rod loops and so that it imparts additional acceleration to the rod loops by means of ribs 9 on its periphery and increases the tipping moment on the loops, the peripheral speed of the ribs 9 being -greater than the horizontal speed of the lower parts of the loops.

In the embodiment of FIGURE 3, the lower parts of the vertical rod loops engage a stationary trip edge 10 and are tilted over by this edge 10.

In the embodiment of FIGURES 4 and 5, as in that of FIGURES l and 2, a rotary tube reeler 1 has a laying arm 2 which rotates about a horizontal axis and projects into a protective casing 11. A slide 12 is mounted so as to have its initial, generally horizontal portion tangential to the lower arc of the rod loops formed by the laying arm 2, the slide 12 being curved downwards in such a manner that the lower parts of successive loops slide down the slide 12 but the upper parts tip over to fall generally at from the bottom of the slide 12 onto a moving conveyor belt 6. The slide 12 lies above the natural trajectory, in free fall, of the loops as they leave the laying arm 2. This arrangement has the advantage, particularly when reeling thin strand material, that the loops are protected from deformation due to the curve of the slide having no discontinuity. Furthermore, when the loops meet the conveyor, the horizontal component of speed of the separate loops has become so small that the loops do not slide any further apart on the conveyor and, even when the loops have different diameters, they can be conveyed away with the lower part of each loop in the correct order and with the same spacing between the lower part of each loop, so that malfunctioning due to single loops standing upright in the collector can be avoided. Air manifolds 13, running parallel to the slide 12, are provided on each side of the casing 11, and cooling air can be passed into the casing 11 through openings 14, onto the rod loops as they tip over. By introducing the cooling air in sideways, the air cooling arrangement does not disturb the tipping procedure and all loops are treated equally. In the other embodiments described herein, air can also be applied sideways in a similar manner.

In the embodiment of FIG. 6, a rotary type reeler 15, has its laying arm 16 rotating about its horizontal axis and mounted upon a laying cone 17, which projects into a protective casing 19 and which has a helical guide 18 with the pitch of the helix decreasing towards its end. In this way, the horizontal speed of the rod loops formed by the laying arm 16 is reduced in an advantageous manner, thus avoiding curving the laying arm 16 so steeply that the desired horizontal speed must be attained .without the helical guide 18, and thus reducing the frictional resistance in the laying arm 16. A driven braking roller 20 is mounted so that its upper periphery is approximately tangential to the lower arcs of the rod loops leaving the laying cone, the braking roller having hooks 21 on its periphery which are angled against the direction of movement of the rod loops. The braking roller drive is connected with the reeler drive in such a way that for every revolution of the laying cone 17, the braking roller 20 rotates through an angle corresponding to the angular spacing between adjacent hooks 21 and the arrangement of the helical guide 18 is such that the peripheral speed of the hooks 21 is less than the horizontal speed of the loops. In this manner, each single rod loop is engaged by a hook 21 and is tilted onto a moving conveyor belt 22. At the end of the conveyor belt 22, the open rod loops fall perpendicularly downwards and are gathered together into a rod bundle in a collector 23. Although not shown, such a collector is vprovided for the embodiments shown in FIGURES 1-5.

In the embodiments of FIGURES 7 and 8, the vertical rod loops leave the laying cone 17 as in the embodiment of FIGURE 6, and their lower arcs engage a backwardly inclined moving conveyor belt 24 which is provided with transverse ribs 25 and which moves forward a distance equal to a spacing between the adjacent ribs for each revolution for the laying cone 17. The conveyor belt 24 has its conveying plane at the base 27 of an elliptical crosssection tube 26 which corresponds to the rod loop diameter in such a manner that the perpendicular distance between the conveyor belt 24, and the tube top 28 is smaller than the diameter of the rod loops coming out of the reeler; furthermore, the inclination of the tube 26 is such that the angle between the rod loops standing on the conveyor belt 24 and contacting the tube top 28, and the horizontal plane is smaller than for example, 80 or even less.

When the rod loops engage the transverse ribs 25 of the conveyor belt 24, they lie against the tube top 28, and are conveyed to the end of the tube in this inclined position. As soon as they cease to lie against the tube top 2S, at the bottom of the tube, the open rod loops tip one after the other in the horizontal position, and fall approximately vertically downwards into the collector 23, having passed over the end of the conveyor belt 24.

It will be understood by one skilled in the art that the conveyor belt shown in FIGURES 1, 3, 4 and 6 could be omitted, a collector being provided at the position where the rod loops fall onto the conveyor belt shown.

We claim:

1. A combination of a reeler for reeling strand material and a continuously operative means for conveying loops of said material away from the reeler, the reeler having a drivable rotary laying member mounted for rotation about a generally horizontal axis for providing generally vertical loops of said material, driving means for said rotary laying member, the combination further comprising means for tilting the loops over in a forward direction, whereby the loops are disposed in an open formation on said conveying means.

2. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tilting means comprises means for engaging and braking the lower portions of the loops.

3. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tilting means comprises means for engaging and accelerating the upper portions of the loops.

4. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tiltingmeans tilts said loops to fall generally flat onto said conveying means.

5. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tilting means is supported outside the path of said loops and does not extend substantially into the area enclosed by said loops.

6. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tilting means includes a guide member having projections arranged to be moved continuously during operation to engage the loops and tilt them away from the rotary laying member.

7. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tilting means comprise a stationary member adjacent the lower part of the orbit of the rotary laying member for catching the lower parts of the generally vetrical loops and tipping the loops over.

S. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tilting means comprises a driven roller mounted downstream of the rotary laying member for rotation about an axis in a plane generally at right angles to the axis of the rotary laying member, the driven roller having projections running parallel to its axis and being positioned adjacent the upper part of the orbit of the rotary laying member, whereby said projections engage the upper parts of the generally Vertical loops leaving the rotary laying member and impart thereto a speed greater than that of the lower parts of the loops.

9. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tilting means comprises a slideway provided downstream of the rotary laying member, said slideway having an ini tial generally horizontal portion, approximately tangential to the lower parts of the loops and a further portion which is curved downwards, whereby the lower parts of successive loops slide down the slideway whilst the upper parts tip over to fall generally at from the bottom of the slideway.

10. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said tilting means comprises a driven braking roller mounted downstream of the rotary laying member for rotation about an axis in a plane generally at right angles to the axis of rotation of the rotary laying member, breaking roller driving means, the braking roller having projections running parallel to its axis and being positioned adjacent the lower part of the orbit of the rotary laying member, whereby the projections engage the lower parts of the generally vertical loops leaving the rotary laying member so that the loops tip over forwardly the braking roller.

11. A combination as claimed in claim 10, wherein said braking roller projections have hooks extending in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of the loops.

12. A combination as claimed in claim 10, wherein said driving means of the roller and of the rotary laying member are coordinated, whereby for each revolution of the rotary laying member, the roller rotates through an angle equal to the angular separation of adjacent roller projections.

13. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said conveying means is close below the orbit of the rotary laying member, whereby the lower part of each loop engages said conveying means is close below the orbit of the rotary laying member, whereby the lower part of each loop engages said conveying means almost immediately after leaving the rotary laying member.

14. A combination as claimed in claim 13, wherein the horizontal speed of said conveying means is less than the horizontal speed of the loops leaving the rotary laying member.

15. A combination as claimed in claim 13 wherein said conveying means is provided with transverse projections.

16. A combination as claimed in claim 1, wherein said conveying means comprises a downwardly inclined continuously moving conveyor, conveyor driving means, said tilting means comprises an upper slideway provided downstream of the rotary laying member and inclined downwards and running approximately parallel to said con veyor, said conveyor having transverse projections for engaging the lower parts of the loops, the perpendicular distance between said conveyor and the upper slideway being less than the diameter of the loops, whereby the top parts of the loops slide down the upper slideway whilst tipped forward to make an angle therewith of less than with the horizontal.

17. A combination as claimed in claim 16, wherein said driving means of the conveyor and ofthe rotary laying member are coordinated such that for each revolution of the rotary laying member, the conveyor moves forwards through a distance equal to a distance between adjacent transverse conveyor projections.

18. A method of supplying loops of strand material to a conveyor comprising the steps of feeding said material to a reeler rotating about a generally horizontal axis, forming said material into generally vertical loops in the reeler, tilting the successively formed loops in a forward direction by tilting means, depositing the successive loops on the conveyor, and conveying the loops in open relationship away from the reeler.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 420,747 2/1890 'rallman 242-82 2,954,180 9/1960 Crum 242-83 FRANK J. COHEN, Primary Examiner. N. MINTZ, Assistant Examtilzer. 

